The primary mission of the Protein Core is to provide protein production and purification services to the three[unreadable] components of this program project grant. The core will be responsible for building expression vectors,[unreadable] expressing and purifying recombinant proteins, submitting the proteins for production of antibodies by[unreadable] commercial vendors, and carrying out initial evaluation of antibodies generated to these proteins. The core[unreadable] will also maintain a range of bacterial and eukaryotic expression vectors and cell lines for protein production.[unreadable] Finally, the core will store and distribute polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies raised against the various[unreadable] proteins and domains purified by the core. These services will provide support to all three projects within the[unreadable] program.[unreadable] The availability of recombinant proteins will be vital to achieve the goals of all three projects within the[unreadable] program. Because the entire program revolves around the common theme of Notch signaling, the molecules[unreadable] studied in the three project components are frequently shared and overlapping. Therefore, proteins[unreadable] generated by the core facility can be distributed to all three project components, providing reagents to each[unreadable] group without duplication of effort. Similarly, the antibodies generated for detection of proteins produced by[unreadable] the core will also be used by all three projects. The location of the core facility, adjacent to the Blacklow[unreadable] laboratory where there is a wealth of existing skill in the expression and purification of recombinant proteins[unreadable] for biochemical and structural studies, will bring additional direct benefit to the projects to be carried out in[unreadable] the Aster and Pear laboratories, where there is less expertise in protein production.